I do not understand why

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Bottom line is fear…fear of death, dying, what happens after death if anything, fear of people not like us, fear of the future, fear of our problems, fear of the dark, fear of everyday things……
Just FEAR….think that sums it up at bottom line.

And I think the big one is fear of death because we can’t imagine not being here and just ceasing to exist.

They refuse to believe the well known facts because it goes against what they WANT to believe. And they want to believe what they want to believe because it puts them in alignment with some like minded people. It gives them a strength in numbers feeling. Much of what they already fear is kept at bay by their beliefs and being with others who believe the same BS makes them feel correct, superior and righteous.

Take evolution…they chose not to believe it against overwhelming scientific proof and just plain logic. They want to go to heaven when they die and they fear they won’t, if they believe the wrong dogma. The fear drives it. Same with abortion, gay rights and birth control…fear if they think it’s ok, that they won’t get to heaven.

Take climate change. They ignore facts here because maybe they like trump and he, in his supreme arrogance, doesn’t believe it. But underneath it all, they fear he and the other naysayers may be wrong and climate change is real and the fear is they may have picked the wrong side and they detest being wrong. But they fear it too because of the implications in their own lives.

They fear immigrants because trump has convinced them they are dangerous and out to kill them. In this case, fear overrides religious belief in helping our fellow man, that they may have had long ago.

Just seems to me ignorance of the facts can just be lack of knowledge, but refusal to even consider the facts is fear based on some contorted way of thinking.

Maybe the whole thing is simply “fear of being wrong”, so they stick with it.

It is very nice to see your comment here, Mary. I would like to add that it is much more than fear, for it has a lot to deal with emotional reasoning, confirmation bias and other cognitive biases, as well as, even more importantly, how human beings process statements and quotations, as discussed in my very detailed post at http://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2017/10/18/the-quotation-fallacy/

The said post is both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. If you can persist in reading this long post of mine, then there is indeed clear light at the end of the tunnel in answering Scottie’s post entitled “I do not understand why” containing the quote “I cannot understand why “deeply held religious beliefs” are ever held in higher esteem than “deeply understood facts.” ”

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Often when people learn they have an incurable condition and death is not far away , they turn to faith healers or unconventional medicine in order to avoid death , who knows it might just work. Nicholas Humphreys has a hypothesis that in the human animal the sense of self is so highly developed that we all live in the conscious world of self ; we commune with our selves and travel in time backwards or forwards giving us this fear of death. Interestingly this highly developed sense of self is not present in infants or very young children.
This stands in stark contrast to Sam Harris who claims the self is an illusion.
On the subject of death the late Stephen Hawking was given only a year or two to live by the medical profession.

We must always remember the terminally sick can often be desperate and reason goes to the wind , they grasp at straws just as a drowning man ; logic means nothing . This is a well known human reaction to the unknown.

Very true, but this is one thing I want to be very clear with , faith healing is a scam and it can cause people to stop taking medication that does help, so that they then die. Faith healing has cured no one ever. I remember in the ICU family member convincing PT’s to stop taking a medication or not to follow doctors advice. Mixing religion and healthcare always leads to bad results and often death. Hugs

I think part of the reason is indoctrination. Those who “believe” have been told by religious leaders from day one that “God” is the Final Answer. Everything else is “fluff.” That’s why so many believers (e.g., Wild Mel) dismiss those “deeply understood facts” as scientism. They can’t POSSIBLY be true because … God.

I would rather know the true than wallow in a lie. You know what bothers me. They seem unable to admit they may be wrong. I have been wrong and I have admitted it. IF I said there was no green colored rocks because the magic dragon told me so, and someone hands me green rocks, I would have to admit I was wrong. Why can’t they? What shuts off in their minds so they don’t see what is real when shown? Hugs

Yes, I think it’s that powerful. BUT … what keeps it going is the constant and continual reinforcement from clergy. When a person leans toward a belief in something (anything), each time that belief is supported by others, it becomes stronger and stronger. It really doesn’t matter all that much whether the belief is backed by “evidence.” Its strength comes from being backed by others who see things the same way.

I am a 56 year old gay man who has been very lucky in life. Life is an adventure and I live it that way. I am in a long term married relationship with a wonderful man I adore. This is our 29th year together.

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